


Man of The People

by lil_1337



Category: Gundam Wing
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-02-19
Updated: 2008-02-19
Packaged: 2017-11-06 23:06:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/424239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lil_1337/pseuds/lil_1337
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>written for the <a href="http://gw500.livejournal.com/profile"><img/></a><a href="http://gw500.livejournal.com/"><b>gw500</b></a> prompt illusion.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Man of The People

"Mr. Winner, how nice of you to join us." The woman's smile was as phony as her large perky breasts. "The plan is for you to join us onstage after the initial introductions. You'll have the floor for ten minutes to say your remarks before we move onto the next speech."

Quatre nodded, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. This was far from being the first humanitarian awards he'd ever been asked to speak at. If he hadn't already been committed to attending as an honoree he would never had agreed to speak. If there were a way out of it he would grab it with both hands and hang on. Unfortunately as the CEO of Winner Enterprises Inc. he was also the face of the corporation. As an attractive man with boy next-door charm he was a PR person's wet dream and they never passed up a chance to put him in a situation where Quatre's genuine concern for those less fortunate would shine. Considering who he was, that encompassed ninety nine point nine percent of the population.

It wasn't that Quatre didn't care; if anything he cared too much, but awards and applause for his supposed altruistic works always left him feeling uncomfortable. He worked hard to make WEI a partner in the community by being eco friendly and donating to various charities while personally he gave numerous hours of volunteer work and substantial contributions both anonymously and otherwise. As Duo would say, he not only talked the talk he walked the walk.

For Quatre a life of privilege brought with it responsibility. One that was made that much heavier when he added on the debt owed by the destruction he had wrought with Sandrock and on his own. He didn't deserve awards or honors when his efforts barely begun to scratch the surface of what he needed to do for the people in his care. There were so many other people who devoted their lives to working for the betterment of the human condition. People who would never be invited to stand on this stage and be acknowledged for their good works because they lacked the name of Winner. That knowledge ate at him like a cancer of his soul.

It frustrated and sickened him to see the smug faces of the audience as they picked at their thousand dollars a plate meal. Each one dressed in clothes and jewels that cost more then the average family earned in a year. There was so much more to do if they were going to create a world free from war and oppression. Some days it was all he could do not scream and rail at the personifications of wealth and privilege he saw around him. Lives wasted by resting on the laurels of their hardworking ancestors.

Patience, Trowa kept telling him.. The world wouldn't change in a day and one person, no matter how rich or powerful he was or how much he wanted to, could not reform the human condition over night. People were always going to be people; flaws and foibles were built into their genetic make up. There were some things that just couldn't be fixed in a month or a year. Maybe not even in a lifetime. But that didn't stop Quatre from wanting it or trying to make it happen if only by sheer will.

Quatre fought a sigh and smiled at the hostess as she rambled on about positioning on stage and which table he would be required to sit at. Listening with one ear he began composing his speech. Yet another reminder of personal accountability mixed with the appropriate amount of humility and gratitude. While he would have preferred to unleash his inner terrorist and let the group of smug self satisfied people know exactly what he though of them he wouldn't. Instead he would put on a cheerful smile and do his duty, just as he had always done.


End file.
